Isn't the easy way to fix the monk is to make them full BAB and replace flurry with the two-weapon fighting chain at the right levels that only work with monk weapons and unarmed strikes. At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th their unarmed strikes get a +1 enhancment bonus and like weapons bypass DR of equivlent weapon.

It doesn't hurt anything, just like removing the skills doesn't hurt. I love both pathfinder and 4E but like 4E's smaller skill list more, they took out all the craft, profession, perform skills if your character was a blacksmith poet before taking up the adventures mantle so be it you know about smithing and poems.

My players always make sure they have all the knowledge skills covered so I would never give them away for free, to useful to know about monster's strengths and weaknesses.

Not really at a certain point every pathfinder character carries multiple wands of cure light wounds or infernal healing and fully heal up after every fight anyway.

All you are doing is saving your party some gold, so to balance it out give them a little less treasure. I like the feel of not having magic healing sticks being thrown on the ground like trash when done, it makes the world feel less magical somehow so your idea is fine.

There are rules for using the healing skill to give back h.p by the book you can only use it once a day but maybe make it usefull after every fight.

The item healing burns ect...makes me think it should just be an alchemaical healer's kit. Make it have charges that cost the 3 gold each or in blocks of 10 for 30 gold. The kit has thread, ointments, bandages, ect so it works on all those aches and pains.

You might even work out a charge per fixing other conditions, like nausea and fatigue.

The price sounds about right to me. I say that based on the fact the most efficient method by the book is a wand of infernal healing for 750 gold. That wand heals 500 hp. So 750/500 gets you 1.5 gold per hit point your item costs twice that but does not require a use magic device check or a spell caster.

But in the group it is pure no magic, I mean a bard, ranger, or paladin can use a wand of cure light wounds from level 1 with no problem since it is a class spell.

How about some item that makes the treat deadly wounds part of the heal skill for effective/take less time/and usable more than once per day?

Unworkable is a good term for this...except the whole witch/hair thing. You NEED to be able to hit and do damage, that is a fighters job in the party, along with having good hit points and not being hit in the first place.

My gaming group once had a player bring a very under optimized character to the table, we role played through the introduction and it was basically the scene from Mystery Men, where they are interviewing potential members for the team.

A group of heroes does not want a fighter with a 12 strength dragging them down.

So yeah first be able to do your job, that doesn't mean your character should be a contender for the DPR olympics, but they should well....be a fighter. Second, take skills, traits, and background stuff to make him a fun character to roleplay.

Oh and if it skills you are after, human is great. The bonus feat can go to skill focus (get plenty as a fighter so no big deal to use one here), get extra skill point, and take favored class for extra skill point too, (again take toughness to make up for this, get tons of feats).

Better question why would anyone ever put Fury-born on anything? I mean give someone the choice of either a +3 weapon all the time or a +1 weapon that after two hits on the same target becomes +3, and maybe +4 or 5 if it takes that many hits to kill something.....and everyone I know will take the +3 weapon all the time.

Things just don't have that many hit points, if one of my PC's hits a monster 4 times it is either dead or on its last legs.

I think maybe as a +1 modifier it "might" be worth it for archers, monks, and two-weapon style melee types.

To answer questions...

1- yes anything the amulet modifies would go up since the amulet helps unarmed strikes and natural attacks both would get bonus.

2- no the bonus from the amulet would have to be better than that from the spell, you take the higher don't add together

Yes but like my crafty players did in a kingmaker game, have your cohort sitting on a two person carpet with you fly the carpet with their move action after they delay/or main delays initiative. In this case the cohorts were both cleric's who would use standard actions to buff and heal.

It was horrible, and totally by the book.

That plus many other things, made flying carpets, leadership feat, and kingmaker kingdom rules in a bad place for me.

Not by much if at all, easy fast way is just apply the advanced template on the fly +2 to all d20 rolls, +2 damage per attack, extra 2 h.p per hit die, +2 DC's of powers, and a +4 to AC, all for +1 CR.

That is like getting a +4 to all stats and 2 points of natural armor and is only a +1 CR modifier.

I would allow a player to make/find arrows with returning but would price them as full magic weapons and not ammo. So a +1 returning arrow would be 8,000 gold, need to buy one for each attack though make them come back at the end of the round.

I think Catti-brie in the Drizzt novels had a bow and some arrows like this.

It would be much more easy just to buy an endless quiver or ammo pouch.

Thank you everyone. I am really glad for the warm response to this. I'll be honest in that I was sweating it a bit (not knowing if I'd customers afterwards). But it was the right thing to do. I stand by my conviction and my gay friends.

More power to you, it must be tough being a 3rd party publisher, but were you really worried about loosing customers? I am as conservative as it gets on this issue in real life, but could care less about some npc's in a supplement book. I think I might buy your book because it seems like a good product not because of some stance for/against gay rights.

So yeah just wanted to say as someone who doesn't share your beliefs go ahead and put in whatever content you want like that and know that if it is a good quality product it should stand on it's own. You didn't lose me as a potential customer and from the rest of the thread might have gained some.

Had players take an item crafter specialist it can cause a lot of extra wealth. They get there own personal spellmart making items for them at cost without the downtime affecting the players characters much. It also has a secondary income source if they set up their own magic item shop, selling looted gear to it at higher prices.

Things like this mostly, a lax DM like me who just understands high level play is silly anyway and lets them do whatever helps.

Most faiths are 100% behind the conversion/destruction of other faiths especially those faiths directly opposed to them. So no it is all in following the holy word of insert good faith.

Killing evil, destroying evil churches, burning down establishments that support evil, let the paladins and good clerics have a little fun every now and then.

Ran a paladin through a module in a town who venerated Asmodeous there was not a single shrine or church left standing after one night of cleansing. The player had a blast.

I think because most players I have met in real life have issues wit organized faiths they dislike the paladin class and want to always see the paladins fall for dumb things like not helping the elderly cross the street, ect.... again just let them have fun.

It is why the 5/15 minute workday was invented, you are a wizard not William Tell. If you can't sling spells around the battle field then you are forced into a bad choice between being useless with a crossbow or having to spend your own gold on expensive expendable resources like wands, scrolls, alchemical items, ect....

Now there are builds that help with this a fun npc I ran once was a human transmuter that was all about using a crossbow had two castinings of gravity bow a day and point blank shot/precise shot. It worked out well at lower levels and he used a lot of rays later on.

0 level spells should really do something like 2d4 damage instead of 1d3.

Honestly I think there should be a feat that let's you use any ability score for attack and damage.

Maybe a feat chain the first to get the attack bonus, the second to get the damage bonus. It would make a lot of character builds more optimal, wisdom or dexterity based monks, clerics that could dump strength but still be front line guys, magus using int to know where and when to attack, ect....

This is Pathfinder, not 4E

I like both Pathfinder and 4E, run games using both systems and Savage Worlds. They could all learn from each other.

I like how a paladin in 4E can use charisma to swing a great sword and do damage with it. It is based on them channeling divine power through the weapon. But then I also like being able to trip oozes and push huge dragons around the battle mat like a cat with a toy.

Honestly I think there should be a feat that let's you use any ability score for attack and damage.

Maybe a feat chain the first to get the attack bonus, the second to get the damage bonus. It would make a lot of character builds more optimal, wisdom or dexterity based monks, clerics that could dump strength but still be front line guys, magus using int to know where and when to attack, ect....

Remember that at a 5 charisma you are only at a -3 to social rolls that is 15% less social than the norm, and taking any rank is a social skill that is a class skill makes up for it all.

So yeah roleplay the 5 charisma but don't go overboard it is not a huge deal. I've seen people play low int characters like monosyllabic thugs or like Lenny from Mice and Men, people over act a rather small penalty.

Beware charisma draining monsters, a party I was running through Slumbering Tzar got real messed up by flyby attacking charisma draining undead.

My top powergamer's first thought was to get this for his paladin and use it on Deadly Juggernaut. 24 hours to get as many +1 luck bonuses to hit and damage as possible, cast right before going into a big dungeon crawl.

I have a few guys coming over for a game this weekend it might be a one shot or if we have fun a once a month game. Spent today watching old 80's TV with my son and got inspired to make pregen characters based on those characters.

My ideas so far.

MacGyver- thinking cryptbreaker alchemist or archaeologist bard

Stringfellow Hawke- a ranger with a wolf companion, need to figure out how to let the wolf fly.

Make them do a d4 (I just dislike d3's) and let them add primary casting stat to the damage. So wizard with 18 int does d4+4. Puts it in the same category as weapons.

So you're saying that 1d4+4 on a ranged touch attack with infinite ammo is the same as 1d8 (crossbow) against full AC with finite ammo and requiring two hands to operate a crossbow?

Interesting.

No I am saying a wizard should be on par with his at-will attacks, so a d4+4 vs touch AC is about the same as a ranger with a bow point blank shot and precise shot. I haven't had my players count ammo, encumbrance, or silver pieces in over a decade. I don't care how much a room or meal costs and ammo counting is not fun.

I think they should not have different BAB for any class it should go up something like 4E (+1 every even level) and casters get a bonus every few levels to hit with spells, rogues get a bonus every few levels to hit when they can sneak attack, clerics get a bonus with spells and dieties favored weapon, and fighters get a bonus every few levels with all weapon attacks.

That so if at odd levels you got a bonus to hit with what you are supposed to do and a general bonus on even levels, essentially everyone would have full BAB and the math for the game would work out better.

Don't worry about the armor thing dragonhide full plate is not that expensive.

I would be O.K with changing out wild shape for channel energy I might even give you a little added bonus of moving those effected 5 feet or picking them up from prone for the healing. Maybe a bull rush attempt on the undead effected.

Easy fix to give a little protection to the BBEG from anyone: an item that, when the wearer/owner is hit for the first time AND he wants to (if he is aware of the attack), immediately activates a Stoneskin effect (starting to protect from the attack that triggered it) OR a Cure Moderate Wounds (this effect also applies before the damage from the attack is applied). And the item has how many charges you need.

So, say a PC hits with three attacks on his first turn: the first one will trigger Stonesin (which will reduce all three of them, and subsequent ones), while the second and third will trigger the healing, if the BBEG wants to. Charges will run out quickly, maybe, but the more you give (hopefully a reasonable amount), the longer he'll stand.

That is cool and all but you are opening a big can of worms in my opinion.

Any item like that the players will want, so taking it after the fight, or asking to craft more later. Remember just DM fiating in extra hit points and stoneskin spells is not cool. Giving the BBEG just extra hit points, or DR/- with no in game reason is the same as lying about dice rolls, it is cheating. So yeah a cool item that cast contingent spells is nice for him this fight just might be too nice for the PC's after the fight.

No such thing as to much of a good thing, but yeah sounds like a 4E DM pulling something out of the air or running a 4E adventure and not changing the treasure, wich while I like 4E the two worst things are the treasure and the published adventures.

Anyway yeah I would maybe let it give you a +2 bonus to the DC's of any spells you cast and the DC when you channel energy, in a Pathfinder game.

I never have traps unless I think through how they work and what they do. The disable device roll is for when a player feels like being brainless and just rolling a die. Most mechanical traps, if found and described by the gm, can be overcome with thinking.

No skills are for people who want to ROLEPLAY a character they are not in the real world.

If a player of a rogue who has a 16 int and tons of points in disable device, just throws his skill check it is because in real life the player does not have an engineering degree and doesn't live in a world with magic traps.

If a player of another rogue wants to charm a barmaid or con a king out of a ton of treasure and has all the social skills maxed out, yes it is just a single roll or series of rolls because that is what the rules are for and the real life player might not be able to talk to girls, is anti-social, and the only con men he knows are from watching Leverage.

Plus it sucks when the guy who is an engineer but is playing a druid without any skill as such talks his way past a trap without spending any in game resources knowing how to do it. Or the guy who does a lot of social stuff in real life but is playing a dwarf with a charisma of 8 and no skill, just talks his way through the game.

All of this is cool and all but in the end it is a pile of g.p that does get turned into a magic trinket to hang on the christmas tree that is a player character.

The DM has to add all this hunting materials down and stuff as story elements into a game he already has going in one direction, this seems to me just as an annoyance and the item crafter wanting to spend more time in the spotlight than other players.

What happens when between adventure DM has planed out X and adventure Y, when the player is going to want to craft 4-5 magic items for the party is that 4-5 different side quests and now adventure Y is put off alot longer and the group gets XP and more gold going after components so that leads to wanting to craft more gear.

Handwaving all the shopping at spellmart and magic crafting lets the players get back to the real plot the DM has already spent time on.

Your idea works fine, whatever let's your group have fun. Make things more difficult for them without disable device but not impossible. If they find the trap and can skirt around it maybe that causes some problems for them.

They could also just put ranks into disable device just won't get the class skill bonus. In fact there might be a trait or two that makes it a class skill for one of them and gives a small bonus to the roll.

But 100% agree that sometimes other skills like survival should be able to sub for disable device.

For 30 years, everyone wants to run a catfolk because the have to be so special at everything. If you haven't had to listen to people obscess about them ad nauseum you're fortunate. Enjoy them in your games. To me there is nothing unique about catfolk.

In that case maybe a ratfolk that hates catfolk for raiding his homeland and killing his village Conan style. He has now become a legendary thing that catfolk tell stories of to their children to scare them into behaving.

Maybe a witch that curses them or a stalker in the night (ranger or rogue) that hunts them down when they are out after dark.

Half-orc executioner who hides his identity behind an iron mask. Acts like Silent Bob from the Kevin Smith movies, ie rarely talks but when he does it is profound and important.

Class Inquisitor, archetype spellbreaker, inquisition spellkiller, gives him a anti arcane magic thing going on. Uses a two-handed weapon so make sure feat number one is power attack, and focus on intimidating people to get what you want.

If it is the developers intention to have something work one way or not work that way then why do they not fix it?

This is a game with rules, rules that a good portion of the playing community like to rules lawyer to death and exploit every loop hole imaginable, take a bit stop regurgitating fluff to fill the books and spend some time on the mechanics of the game.

I want a game that is balanced, and not prone to abuse by players. If I am spending time as a DM fixing the system something is wrong, this is what we pay for.

I would do Summoner and ask the DM if he is ok with instead of fiendish or celestial animals from summon monster if you could get animals with the Clockwork Construct template it is the same CR modifier and on the srd site.

If we are talking about a level 12 archer then he might already have a +5 bow so he bypasses all but DR/- anyway, don't see a problem.

The math on the item is half his expected wealth (108,000 g.p/2=54,000)going to his primary magic item. On top of that you have quivers full of cold iron and silver arrows as early as level 2. DR is not much of an issue with archers at any level.

So yeah clustered shot is not something one of my players would pick up unless he is a pure fighter archer build and just has extra feats to buy stuff that 'might' come in as useful one day.

One thing that doesn't ever make sense to me is the idea of people not role playing ability scores properly or heaping on extra penalties to a character with a low score.

Dwarf Fighter with a 5 charisma only has a -15% chance to do something based on charisma as a Half-Elf Rogue with a 10 charisma, give or take skill training.

Same thing goes with intelligence, a 5 int has only a -15% chance worse then a character with a 10 int. He is not all that less smart. In fact having a skill as a class skill gives you the same modifier, so fighter with 5 in takes knowledge engineering and cavalier with a 10 int takes the same number of ranks in it both are equal in the ability.

A low stat as bad as they are don't need people thinking they can't do things it is just harder.